Not Another History Podcast
We are Cindy and Katie, and every two weeks we bring you a random theme and offer several of our favorite historical events loosely based on that theme. We are basically just living out our old lady fantasies of rocking on the front porch together, drinking, and gossiping about people who are already dead. Music: The Life of a Divorced Bumblebee by Josef Bel Habib (www.epidemicsound.com). Design: canva.com
Not Another History Podcast
11 Pipers Piping
In honor of the holiday season, we are re-releasing our 12 Days of Christmas special! For the next 12 days, we will re-release one episode a day, each one with our own spin on the classic holiday theme, "The 12 Days of Christmas."
Katie tells about the life of “Mad” Jack Churchill.
On the eleventh day of Christmas, my true love gave to me eleven pipers piping. So, cindy, is there nothing more dulcet and sweet than the sounds of the bagpipes?
Speaker 2:Some people might argue with you. Some people might say no, no.
Speaker 1:Have you ever heard a didgeridoo? Katie, have you?
Speaker 2:Is it super weird that I am jealous of people who are in professions where they get to have bagpipes played at their funerals. I think the bagpipes are the best. That's like the best. Like you cannot hear a bagpipe and not start like weeping, just be like, oh, they could be playing, like we wish you a Merry Christmas and you're just like oh, I don't know, Cindy.
Speaker 1:Have you heard the wind beneath my wings on an oboe? That's pretty haunting. Well, Cindy, would you be surprised to know that the bagpipes themselves? There's evidence to suggest that it dates back to Roman times.
Speaker 2:Yes, because I did a whole podcast episode on that. Katie, you just take my podcast and you're just going to recycle it.
Speaker 1:I do, and then I expect you to be surprised when I regurgitate facts that you've literally given to me. I'm ready, let's do it Just okay this time around, cindy, just feign stupefication. Just feign amazement. Okay, ready, three, two, one. Stupefaction. Just feign amazement. Okay, ready, three, two, one. Cindy. Did you know that the bagpipes date back to roman times? What I know amazing. One of the most famous, most unbelievably accomplished pipers of the 20th century would be john malcolm thorpe, fleming churchill, jack churchill, also known as mad jack that was a lot of names if there's one thing that I feel like the british, the british, all of the united kingdom enjoys enjoys its unnecessary surnames and middle names.
Speaker 2:Names for days, so Mad.
Speaker 1:Jack was born in 1906 in Colombo, what is now Sri Lanka. His family eventually moved to Surrey where he was raised by an Anglo-Scottish, where he was raised by Anglo-Scottish parents. He eventually went on to move to Nairobi where he, as an adult, he became a newspaper editor and a male model. Whoa whoa. He did move back to the United Kingdom and he actually starred in yes what did he model?
Speaker 2:don't just bypass that. I didn't look it up. I mean it's like 1920, so he's probably modeling gloves or slacks or slacks slacks model. They're high rise and uncomfortable nothing comes between me and my pleats.
Speaker 1:Man, how do I get me a 1920s pants model? And he moved back to the United Kingdom and eventually starred in two movies, which allowed him to demonstrate a very unique skill that he developed as a child archery. So he did join the armed forces in 1926, and he was posted out in Southeast Asia. There's records of him literally motorcycling across India in his free time and eventually ended up in Burma, which is now modern-day Myanmar, where he that's where he learned to play the bagpipes.
Speaker 2:Really, I did not see that coming, neither did I.
Speaker 1:Not a place that I would expect one to learn a traditional Scottish instrument, but when in. Rome, but not After his brief military stint. He did return to england where he it is worth noting that he did represent the great britain in the world archery cup championships that year, in 1939, where he came in second place, unfortunately. But with the outbreak of World War II he reenlisted and he became part of the Expeditionary Force in France. Any guess what the Expeditionary Forces did?
Speaker 1:their job was they went to antarctica no, you're in the right vein, um, but they went and they went exploring yes and no, so, but this is. You want to think like military they went on.
Speaker 2:They went exploring places that they then invaded. They're like the scouts, they're scouts. I got there Just give me 20 minutes and I'll get there.
Speaker 1:But you're in the right ballpark. They're the ones who go out first, who have to explore, if you will, to do some reconnaissance, see who's out there. But instead of finding penguins, he found Nazis. And now the thing about Nazis is you want to sneak up on them and be very stealthy and kill them in very quiet ways. And how do you suppose he did that? Cindy Back to the longbow. So, literally, drawing upon his experience as an archer, he would bring a longbow with him into battle and as an expeditionary force soldier, this is how he took out a number of Nazis.
Speaker 2:Oh, he's like the Legolas to the military. He's like sliding down elephant trunks.
Speaker 1:So I'm like shooting, Shooting off arrows instead of orcs. It's Nazis.
Speaker 2:I say orcs, you say Nazis.
Speaker 1:Let's call the whole world war off, and Mad Jack was noted for not only bringing his longbow into battle with him, but a long sword, but also a broad sword and his bagpipes, which he would use to rally the troops.
Speaker 2:I knew he brought the bagpipes, katie, of course he did.
Speaker 1:And at the Battle of and I'm probably butchering this it's Lepinette, Lepinette, I think so that's correct. Yes, during the Battle of Lepinette he used a longbow to silently cut down a Nazi soldier before picking up two machine guns and firing until he ran out of ammunition, at which point he led his troops into battle with his broadsword in hand. Eventually, he was shot in the shoulder but was able to lead the rest of his men to safety, despite being wounded. It's under your frozen, I think.
Speaker 2:No, I'm not frozen. I was just trying to visualize all of this happening and I had lots of thoughts going through my head and I didn't know what to say. But yeah, that's very impressive.
Speaker 1:But this would not be the only time he used unconventional weapons to rally his men and to build a sort of esprit de corps so that they could take on the Nazi foes. In 1941, he was put as second in command of his unit and they were sent to Vagsøy, norway, where he and his men would make a beach landing. On the way there, he encouraged them pounding, pounding out notes, I don't know. Yes, pounding, belting out. No, what's the word I'm looking for? Bleeding, bleeding.
Speaker 2:Let go bleed. You bleed them out Bleeding.
Speaker 1:Let go Bleed. You bleed them out, bleed out those jams. No, on the way to Vagsor Norway, he encouraged his men by playing the bagpipes with traditional Scottish songs to build up their encouragement. Oh my God, yes, yes, the morale.
Speaker 2:To boost the morale.
Speaker 1:Yes, Thank you. Thank you, he pounded out some amazing grace on his bagpipes On the way. Let's try this one more time. On the way to Bagsword, Norway, he beat out some sick jams on his bagpipes to encourage the men to face their ultimate foe. It was said that he was the first one to hurl a grenade at the enemy and there's video footage of him charging from the boats as they made their beach landing sword in hand to face the enemy.
Speaker 2:Question why did they have swords in World War II?
Speaker 1:I just because why not? There are still soldiers today who will bring knives and swords and things like that with them onto the battlefield.
Speaker 2:Really, I just figured everybody was equipped with a gun of some kind in World War II.
Speaker 1:I just figured everybody was equipped with a gun of some kind in World War II. I mean, as far as I know he could, he did use guns. I'm sure it was a standard issue for him to receive a rifle or whatnot, but it's like I would just prefer the longsword. And who's going to say no to a man who's brandishing a longsword and a bow and arrow? Are you going to say no to him?
Speaker 2:Well, and that's the thing. Is it like if you are, if you're, if your leader, if your fearless leader is pounding out feats on a bagpipe? See what I'm doing.
Speaker 1:It's a lot like the chicken dance like that um, obviously, what are you?
Speaker 2:what are you motivated to reach for your rifle or your sword?
Speaker 1:you're gonna reach for your sword like that brave heart instinct in you just comes out and and also just the amount of sheer bravery to say, okay, you got a machine gun, I got a broad sword and I'm not afraid to face you. Absolute, just be, be for lack of a better term cojones on this gentleman. Incredible. But, cindy, our story does not end here by any stretch of the imagination. He then was sent to Italy, sicily and Salerno specifically, and then his unit was sent to Yugoslavia, where he was captured as a prisoner of war and he was sent to a concentration camp. Do you think this stopped him? Did they have bagpipes there? They didn't, but they had other pows that he was able to rally without use of his bagpipes and they were able to tunnel to freedom whoa okay, hold on back up back up.
Speaker 1:No, a concentration camp would not stop him, but nor would dirt and earth. And he heard that he did escape from this. But then I've also heard that the prisoners were abandoned by their SS guards because they feared retribution from German soldiers. And he did, on foot, make his way to the Italian border, to freedom. But that did not stop him. He was still ready for a fight. So as the theater in Europe closed, he headed back to Burma, modern-day Myanmar, only to find that World War II has come to an end. And do you know what Mad Jack had to say when he discovered that the World War II was over? If it weren't for those damn Yanks, we could have kept this war going for another ten years. He didn't want it to end no.
Speaker 1:Oh, he had a lot more Nazis to stay.
Speaker 2:Yes, so he did not go quietly into the night. What happened to him?
Speaker 1:He did eventually go back home to England. He liked to. I have to double check this. I think he liked to like refurbish submarines or something like that.
Speaker 2:I figured he'd become a bounty hunter or something.
Speaker 1:No, no Retirement. Let's see, he was very eccentric. In his interests he startled train guards and passengers by throwing his briefcase out the wind, the train window each day on the ride home. He later explained that he was tossing his case into his own back garden so he would not have to carry it home from the station. Uh, but I saw somewhere that he oh, he would refurbish coal-fired sailing boats and he liked playing with radio-controlled model warships in his retirement. I feel like eccentric is just a very nice way of saying. You should probably talk to somebody or you need a hobby that doesn't involve stabbing Nazis.
Speaker 2:He had the bagpipes, so what if he used them to call people into battle?
Speaker 1:You know what, cindy, though, if I had someone who woke me every day with the bagpipes, I feel like I could get a whole lot more accomplished in my life. Maybe I'll finally fold all of my clothes according to the KonMari method. I feel like that would really help me achieve that very low bar goal for myself, after you murder the person who woke you up with a bagpipe After I.
Speaker 2:You don't find them soothing, thank you.